The Oberlin Review

Short-form digital Postcards are among the ways artists can share their work with older adults through InterACTS.

interACTS Supports Elders and Artists Alike

September 11, 2020

As older adults face isolation, a new community initiative is working to bring the vibrant local arts scene to their homes. The Oberlin Center for the Arts has launched interACTS, a program that virtually connects elders across Northeast Ohio with art and stories from their community. interACTS is the result of a partnership between OCA and the Oberlin-based production company StoryLens Pictures. As the program grows, the goal is to build a foundation for long-term connections between artist...

Jacey Davidson, Creator of Oberlin Overheard

September 11, 2020

Jacey Davidson, OC ’20, started the Instagram account @oberlinoverheard, or Oberheard, in 2018. Oberlin Overheard features short, droll quotes heard around campus that are submitted by Obies via Instagram direct message. Davidson, who majored in Creative Writing and Art History, remained anonymous while running the account until last March when she revealed herself as the organizer behind it. At the time of this article’s publication, the account has amassed 2,728 followers and has 464 posts. Dav...

Nina Fox, OC'19, stands with her art rental piece.

Art Rental Gets COVID-Safe Makeover

September 9, 2020

Even in the face of a global pandemic, the classic Oberlin tradition of Art Rental will continue this Saturday — but with some significant changes. The Oberlin Art Rental was founded in 1940, 80 years ago, by Professor of Modern Art Ellen Johnson, OC ’33. The program provides Obies with the opportunity to bring original art from the museum into their dorm rooms and is a major selling point for prospective students. “It was one of the main reasons I chose to come to Oberlin in the fir...

Chadwick Boseman smiles during an interview.

Chadwick Boseman and Becoming a Hero

September 4, 2020

The recent death of Black Panther’s Chadwick Boseman adds more pain to a year already marked by the collective grief of Black people. Just months ago, I wrote about the unexpected death of Kobe Bryant. Since then, the Black community has been rocked by the deaths of civil rights leaders, actors, musicians, and civilians from causes ranging from illness, such as COVID-19, to police violence. It surprised me that Boseman’s death hurt me as much as it did, but it makes sense. Despite us never havi...

The new maximum occupancy of the AMAM’s Stern Gallery is only seven people due to pandemic safety concerns.

COVID-19 Brings Challenges, Opportunities for AMAM

September 4, 2020

This year, the Allen Memorial Art Museum has restricted access to Oberlin College ID-holders. However, some of the changes brought on by COVID-19 have given the AMAM’s staff the time to work on virtual initiatives and programs which increase museum accessibility beyond the College. Since students were sent home in March, AMAM curators and leadership pivoted to online outreach and worked to innovate the museum’s role in a socially-distant world. This past June, the AMAM created a Spot...

Kyle Hartzell, “DIY as a Response to Change” Co-Instructor

September 4, 2020

Educational Technologist, Digital Media Engineer, and Lecturer Kyle Hartzell wears many hats at Oberlin College — he works in the Center for Information Technology and the Oberlin Center for Technologically Enhanced Teaching, as well as in both the Cinema Studies and Studio Art departments. He manages equipment and spaces, teaches workshops for student production, and is teaching a sound design class in Cinema Studies this semester. This August, he and Fabrication Lab Supervisor Rachel Smith led th...

Afrikan Heritage House faculty and residents hold an Umoja meeting over Zoom, as shown in the documentary

“Boxes Will Be Provided” Challenges Oberlin to Do More For Black Students

July 9, 2020

When the College moved to remote learning this past spring, students enrolled in the Historic and Contemporary Debates in African American Education course knew they had to document the experience. Their documentary Boxes Will Be Provided felt like a necessary step in recording the impact of COVID-19 on Black Obies. Director and editor DaQuan Williams, OC ’20, had very little experience in film-making prior to embarking on this project, which clocks in at roughly two and a half hours and invol...

New Club Creates a Space for Alternative Black and Femme Students

Alice Koeninger, Senior Staff Writer

March 6, 2020

Alt/Black, Oberlin’s new goth, punk, metal, alternative club for Black women and femmes, was founded by College second-year Jordann Sadler and College third-year Mikaela Howard at the beginning of this semester. The club welcomes “all Black, femme, and women-identifying students, as well as their constructive allies” who are interested in alternative subcultures. “It’s about getting us [Black women and Black femmes] all together and seeing that we’re here and recognizing that we’re here,” Sadler said. Sadler came up with the idea for the group as a Black woman and metal fan who does not see herself represented in the mainstream metal community. “We saw all the gatekeeping — even within...

Fashion Show “Look Black At It” Celebrates 50 Years of Africana Studies

Nathan Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief

February 28, 2020

The 50-year anniversary of Oberlin’s Africana Studies department was celebrated in style at the Black History Month Fashion Show last Saturday. This year’s event was themed “Look Black At It: 50 Years of Fashion.” College third-year Jasmine Mitchell was one of the event’s key organizers. She said that the planning committee started putting the show together about six months ago. “[We began] with ideas for the theme, creating a budget to support the ideas we had, then reaching out to models and makeup artists, contacting photographers, getting a DJ, and, finally, numerous rehearsals,” Mitchell wrote in an email to the Review. “This year … really focused on the importance of knowing Black histo...

From left to right, College fourth-years Jaris Owens, Griffin Woodard, and Miyah Byers. All three students are congregants of the House of Lord Fellowship.

In Bittersweet Move, House of the Lord Fellowship Finds New Space

December 13, 2019

When College fourth-years Miyah Byers, Jaris Owens, and Griffin Woodard were asked why they attend weekly services at the House of the Lord Fellowship despite not being regular churchgoers before starting at Oberlin, they just turned to each other and laughed. There was too much to say. “We could talk about this for days,” Byers said. For Byers, the House of the Lord is a space in which she can make meaningful connections with the congregation. “I get to see my elders being vulnerable...

Nathan A. Greenberg Professor of Classics and Acting Chair of Comparative Literature Kirk Ormand and former students in his “Odysseys and Identities” first-year seminar class on an apple-picking trip.

“Odysseans” Bond Over Unique First-Year Seminar Experience

December 13, 2019

While the First-Year Seminar Program, a primer for liberal arts writing composed of small classes, is described as “a singular opportunity for learning,” few students are still sincerely attached to their first-year seminar experience by the end of their college career. Not so for alumni of Nathan A. Greenberg Professor of Classics and Acting Chair of Comparative Literature Kirk Ormand’s first year seminar, “Odysseys and Identities.” The ‘Odysseans,’ as they’re dubbed, have had semesterly...

Slow Train Storytellers: Bringing Oral Storytelling to Oberlin

December 6, 2019

Slow Train Storytellers will bring members of the Oberlin community together to share their stories over coffee this Friday from 7–9 p.m. Limited to five unscripted minutes, community members are encouraged to share their personal stories in a safe and supportive environment. As a new feature of our artistic community, Storytellers has been meeting on the first and third Friday of each month since October. The Storytellers night was inspired by The Moth, a global spoken-word community in whi...